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Espheni
's apartment.]]Note: "Slenders" is a nickname given by fans. Slenders are the apparent architects of the Invasion of Earth. They use harnesses to command humans and skitters – presumably their enslaved or bioengineered subjects - and appear to have designed the Mechs. They are seen acting in administrative roles, overseeing the work of skitters and an enslaved Karen Nadler in What Hides Beneath. The existence of the "Slenders" was first hinted at by Uncle Scott, who remarked to Tom Mason that it's unlikely the six-legged Skitters would design bipedal robots like the Mechs. Hal Mason, Tom, and Weaver are the first members of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment to discover the "Slenders", on a scouting mission in Boston about 7 months after the attack. Tom speculates that if they are the commanders of the Skitters, they might have been staying in the safety of their motherships up to this point, but now feel it is safe enough to move around the city. Their real name is unknown. For purposes of discussion, they’ve been nicknamed “Slenders” by fans on account of their towering and thin bodies. In the season one finale, after Tom and Weaver badly damage the Mothership, a Slender, along with Karen, intercept them. Karen reveals that the Slenders didn't expect so much resistance and that they found that interesting. They also wanted to talk. Tom and Weaver were furious that, after having killed millions of people and taken their children, they now want to negotiate. Despite this, Karen tells Tom that the Slenders can stop Ben's transition into a skitter if he comes with them. Despite Weaver's protests, Tom agrees saying that he can't let them take Ben back. Biology Slenders are tall humanoid bipeds with smooth gray skin, standing roughly twice as tall as a human and three times as tall as a skitter, though compared to a human their body is skinny and elongated. Their graceful gait indicates that they are able to move about easily in Earth gravity. Although we’ve had only cursory glimpses of them, they appear to be mammals that share many features with Earth cetaceans. Their overall features are somewhat fleshy and blubbery, though their proportions are quite skinny so they do not appear bloated. They do not have a very pronounced neck: while their head is fairly far away from their shoulders, powerful neck muscles smoothly transition from the torso to the head. The top of the head possesses a fairly rounded bullet-shaped point. Indeed, of their facial features only the eyes are particularly prominent, with well-defined eye sockets and seemingly mammalian eyes, spaced only slightly further apart than on a human. Otherwise, they have very weak and poorly defined chins, small and difficult to observe ears, and a poorly defined nose. They actually don't have a "nose" so much as the forehead smoothly slopes down between the eyes down to the upper lip, which in turn slopes down their poorly defined chin into their "neck". They do possess four nostril-slits, two on each side of the head, but much higher than on a human. The small nostrils are located close to the inner corner of each eye. They do seem to have a normal vertebrate mouth, though it is not clear if this means they are physically capable of speaking human languages. Overall, the upper body gives the vague impression of a humanoid dolphin. The body itself is thin and elongated, but lithe and sinewy. They seem almost unnaturally flexible and graceful, willowy but well-muscled. They seem to possess the same general body plan as a human, just with different proportions (i.e. they do not have digitigrade leg joints, like the Mechs). While nearly twice as tall as a human, they have been observed "stooping" to move around in the hallways of human buildings, without too much trouble. Notable Members Two Commanding Slenders Two Slenders were seen observing and/or commanding three Skitters doing what appears to be a patrol mission in Boston. It's very likely these were the first Slenders seen by the resistance; though all that is known for sure is that they are definately the first of their kind seen by the 2nd Mass. Slender (What Hides Beneath) A Slender that escorted Karen Nadler to Sonya Rankim's house to see if she had any more information on survivors within the city of Boston. After Sonya said she did not know about other survivors (despite the fact that Weaver, Tom, and Hal were in the room with her) it looked through the peephole of the apartment before departing with Karen. In the season finale (Eight Hours) the same Slender arrived and wanted to talk to Tom in its air ship as it was intrigued and surprised at the resistance efforts. Tom angered by this request responded: "You take our children and kill millions of people now you want to negotiate?". After this exchange Tom was informed they wanted to talk about Ben. The Slender then escorted Tom into it's air ship as the screen faded to black. Behind the Scenes When the new bipedal aliens were first introduced in episode 1x8 ("What Hides Beneath), the Falling Skies official website ran video clips of them. Due to some sort of miscommunication or delay with the marketing department, these clips appear to be of an earlier concept design, possibly just placeholder CGI. This earlier artwork depicts them being roughly as tall, but with a more bony look, covered in blocky armor, with thin rounded Grey alien heads. The final version which actually aired is much more cetacean in appearance. Category:Characters